View full sizeOregon State UniversityA plastic packing band wrapped around a sea lion's neck since September 2008 is removed after the animal enters a floating enclosure near Newport.The wound is shocking -- a deep, red gash around the sea lion's neck caused by a plastic packing band.

The band had been caught around the sea lion's neck -- which the locals nicknamed "Willy"-- for more than a year.

On Wednesday, Oregon State University marine mammal experts found Willy inside an experimental floating capture cage with six other sea lions at the Newport docks. VIDEO OF RESCUE

With the assistance of a Newport veterinarian Dan Lewer and Jim Burke, director of husbandry at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Rice and several others took a boat to the enclosure, confining five of the seven -- including Willy -- inside.

View full sizeOregon State UniversityJim Rice of the Marine Mammal Institute at OSU."The animal was coping with the problem well, despite the ugliness of the wound, but there was the potential that it could have caused systemic infection that might have killed him," said OSU's Jim Rice, who coordinates the Mammal Stranding Network out of OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center. "It was a very ugly wound."

The officials used a syringe on a long pole to sedate the sea lion, and then reached through with second pole to cut and remove the band. Willy was then freed.

"As far as I know, this was the first use of a capture cage for this purpose, so it was very exciting," said Rice. "Most of the work I do, quite frankly, revolves around dead animals. So this has been a wonderful opportunity to actually help an animal in distress."

Rice said that two weeks ago he other scientists freed a Steller sea lion from a fishing trawler's net, which had trapped the animal inside Sea Lion Caves in Florence.

OSU officials said the cage is a modified floating structure with sliding doors that allows the animals to "haul out" and go and come as they please.

Freeing marine mammals from similar entangelments has no formal funding, but the Marine Mammal Stranding Network is asking for donations for the project, Funds could help with the purchase of Web cameras so rescuers can monitor the capture cage.

Donations for the project may be made to the Marine Mammal Stranding Fund at the OSU Foundation by calling 800-354-7281, or at their Web site.